Irene’s Update

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Here is a shot of Irene’s taken yesterday
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Versus how it used to look as the Short Stop
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The exterior doesn’t look like the fluting is original, it reminds me of the replacement material used on Mel’s diner, the former Lincoln diner of Lebanon, PA.

The former Short Stop diner was also known as the Time Out Diner. It’s a 1950s kullman dinette.
Other similar models include the:
White Crystal, which has a reversed floorplan, with the corner door on the right, and the White Rose System of Linden, New Jersey.
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Both of those diners, however, have canted corners, identifying them as later models. Irene’s is an earlier kullman, with flat vertical sections, and a four window front facade, instead of a five window. Earlier model Kullman dinettes retained the corner door, but had rounded windows.

Paterson, New Jersey

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Here are some of the diners which I took pictures of in Paterson, New Jersey, once home of the Paterson Vehicle Company, builder of Silk City Diners.

Erfed Remodel.  If you have a copy of Dick Gutman’s The American Diner then and now, you will have seen pictures of this diner from when it was an on site, from when it was diner-ized, and from when the addition was put on .  This is how it looks now, a bit faded.

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Only a few doors down, to the left of the Nicholas diner is a 1950s Silk City, once Chappy’s, but I can’t seem to find my pictures of it.

The Egg Platter Diner, a Master
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My Art

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I paint what I like.

Harold’s Furniture, Lebanon, PA.
Notice that the neon of the sign reads, “Furniture”, while the enamel reads Harolds. Photographed this one on a Lebanon diner trip. Unfortunately, most of the diners from that trip have now either been moved or are closed.

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Abandoned Silk Mill, Columbia, PA.
Saw this while driving down the highway on the way to Lancaster. Pulled off at the exit and took some quick snaps in the early morning mist. The roof’s long since caved in, and the entire thing’s fenced off. That’s probably a good idea, it looks about ready to fall down, and I’m sure there are enough people like me out there who are just curious and stupid enough to go in.
This is a fairly massive painting, done on a big piece of plywood. I finished in less than a week, working day and night at the Maryland Summer Center for the Arts at Salisbury University, to get it ready for a show.

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Abandoned Travel Trailer, Oatman, AZ
This is just outside tourist trap central, Oatman, Arizona, famous for its wild donkeys. The trailer’s an old model, filled with light wood and broken bottles.

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Music Store, Kingman, AZ
Kingman Arizona was the first stop of our Arizona trip. We stayed at a restored hotel across from the railroad tracks, owned by a French gentleman. The town’s a hotbed of neon.

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Nash, Cool Springs, AZ
A rusty old nash sitting outside the Cool Springs gas station, on the road from Kingman to Oatman, one of the most beautiful and winding stretches of road you’ll ever have the pleasure to drive.

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Gas pump detail (work in progress) Cool Springs, AZ
A detail from a large painting of a mobilgas pump at the Cool Springs Gas Station.

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Tiki
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Owl Diner – Lowell, MA
The most diner-enthusiast accommodating establishment I’ve visited. Homefries to die for. A great worcester semi-streamliner.
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Palace Diner – Maine
Hit the palace while it was closed, but took pictures, and did the drawing. The owner saw this drawing posted on Roadside, and got in touch with me about using it on their menu. Gave to go ahead, and never heard back after that.
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Diner – Winslow, AZ
Across the street from LaPosada. Closed.
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Diner – Winslow, AZ
It’s still for sale, all these years later.
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Motel- Holbrook, AZ – Painting won 2nd place at a Johns Hopkins art competition.
American Owned. Broken windows.
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Celebrating my win.
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Idaho Potato Museum – Blackfoot, Idaho

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July, 2008
Hit up the Idaho Potato Museum on our way out to Butte, Montana for the National Folk Festival. Spent the night in Blackfoot, and a very nice, very quirky bed and breakfast.

Why stop at the Idaho Potato museum? I can’t think of any reason not to. Old train station, giant potato, Idaho local history. Hard to lose.
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Mahony Diners

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I recently bought this matchbook from the estate of John L. Cronk.
Mahony was a short lived diner company, formed from the remains of O’Mahony.

This matchbook’s interesting in that it advertises not only the Mahony diner company and their Mahony Diner – Motel Center, but also the diner trade journal, Fountain Luncheonette and diner magazine of Rahway, NJ. The inside of the matchbook discusses the virtues of matchbooks as a form of diner advertising.
My other Mahony ephemera.

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A Mahony Diner tag, made for a diner that was never built.
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Unfortunately, other than its short lifespan and its relation to O’Mahony, I can’t seem to find all that much on the company. I’d love to know more.

Snow White Grill – Winchester, Virginia

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The Snow White Grill in Winchester was built c. 1948. Snow White Grill was another burger chain, along the lines of Little Tavern, White Tower, or White Castle. They were in the West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland Area. Interestingly, the Snow White Grills were designed by the same architect, Luther Reason Ray, of the Structural Porcelain Enamel company, who also designed the classic Little Taverns, as well as Hot Shoppes in the same area. This explains the obvious similarities in design and materials.

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The Library of Congress has records regarding Snow White Grills from:

1941 – Snow White Grill for Hansel Hurst, Queen Street and Burke Street, Martinsburg, West Virginia
1948 – Snow White Grill for Hansel Hurst, 159 Loudoun Street, Winchester, Virginia – Luther R. Ray Architect
1948 – Snow White Grill – 9 Patrick Street, Frederick, Maryland
1950 – Snow White Grill for Hansel Hurst, 239 N. Market Street, Frederick, Maryland
1952 – Snow White Grill for Hansel Hurst, South Potomac Street, Hagerstown, Maryland (Detail Shots)
1954-1955 – Snow White Grill Inc., Baltimore Street and Guilford Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland
1955-1956 -Snow White Grill, Inc., West Baltimore Street and Howard Street, Baltimore, Maryland
1959 – remodel front of building for Snow White Grills, 1513 E. Joppa Road, Towson, Maryland
1960 -Snow White Grill, 1808 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland

It’s possible that there were more.

South End Diner – Halifax Nova Scotia

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I ate lunch here today. The interior of the diner features a horseshoe shaped counter, with a grill in back, and padded bongo stools. Every inch of the walls are covered in commemorative and souvenir plates.

I had the cheeseburger, which came topped with grilled onions, relish and mustard, and an order of french fries. The burger had that wonderful lunch counter taste, juicy on the inside, a little crispy on the outside.

South End Diner – Eat in – Take Out
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Here it is, showing how close it is to the Olympic Confectionary. Both are across the street from the rail station and the bus terminal.
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The Olympic
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The South End Diner is located at:
1128 Barrington Street
Halifax, NS B3H 2R2

March 1, 2010
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Jim’s Flyin’ Diner – Southbridge , MA

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This is one of the most out of the way diners I’ve hit up, way out of town, at the Southbridge Airport. Our mapquest directions let us down, and we had to stop for directions downtown, asking both at the library and the post office. Only one person knew what we were talking about, and we got our directions.

Upon reaching the airport, where it is located, it turned out to be closed (we visited in April, which apparently is out of season). It was incredibly cold, windy and bitter, so upon seeing it was closed, we cut the picture-taking to a minimum, just to get back into the heated car. I can’t imagine the diner does much business to people outside of the airport traffic which it is there to service.

A composite panorama showing the diner’s proximity to the runway
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The boxy little ’50s diner partially obscured by the roof and deck
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The interior of the diner. Interesting that the interior old style enamel barrel roof was still used by master at this late date (c1958), especially when contrasted with the exterior of the diner, which seems quite up to date, with its sharp, crisp lines. This manufacturer isn’t very common, with less than fifteen thought to be in existence.
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Venus Diner – Gibsonia, PA / Cleveland, OH

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Here is a photo of mine, of the Venus Diner, shortly before it was moved from Gibsonia, PA to Cleveland, Ohio by Steve Harwin of Diversified Diners. It is for sale on their website.

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Here’s how it appears, more recently, awaiting restoration in Ohio.
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Some more pictures of it, taken when it was open, can be found here.

The M&M Cafe – Butte Montana

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According to the Butte city webpage, the M+M has been open since 1890. It is half lunch counter and half bar, the bar being the counter on your left as you walk in, the lunch counter being the one on your right. In the back is gaming.

Food at the cafe is excellent, and as it is cooked behind the counter, you get a show as you wait. The stools are a type I have never seen before, with a vertical “twist” ripple to their top. The cafe logo is embossed in their seat covers.

We were in Butte, working the National Folk Festival, and hit up the cafe twice, once during the three day festival, and once a day after. While the event was in town, the M&M was standing room only. It was so full and swamped that we gave up. The second time was different, slower, once the festival had left town, and it was back to mostly locals.
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I love the juxtaposition of the M&M and the R&R. The Neon, the hand painted sign on the side of the building and the lettering in the trimwork up top all proudly announce the name of the cafe. The stainless facade adds some sparkle to the old brick building. The current neon was added sometime after 1939. A different piece is found in this 1939 picture of the cafe on Shorpy. The town doesn’t look all that different, though than it did 70 odd years ago.
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